title: Impact of professional nursing practice environment and psychological empowerment on nurses' work engagement: test of structural equation modelling.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to investigate the influence of professional nursing practice environment and psychological empowerment on nurses' work engagement.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Previous researchers have acknowledged the positive influence that nurse work environment and psychological empowerment have on engagement. However, less is known about the mechanisms that explain the links between them.
  
  
  METHODS
  A predictive, non-experimental design was used to test the model in a random sample of 300 clinical nurses from two tertiary first class hospitals of Tianjin, China. The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index and the Psychological Empowerment Scale were used to measure the study variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Structural equation modelling revealed a good fit of the model to the data based on various fit indices (P = 0.371, χ(2) /df = 1.056, goodness of fit index = 0.967), which indicated that both professional practice environment and psychological empowerment could positively influence work engagement directly, and professional practice environment could also indirectly influence work engagement through the mediation of psychological empowerment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study hypotheses were supported. Psychological empowerment was found to mediate the relationship between practice environments and work engagement.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Administrators should provide a professional nursing practice environment and empower nurses psychologically to increase nurse engagement.
authors.affiliation: Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
authors.forename: Shanshan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yanhui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006272:Health Facility Environment / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D015279:Organizational Culture; D011209:Power, Psychological; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology
keywords: environment; nurse; psychological empowerment; work engagement